Chapter 23: Dating Show Planner Meeting
Back in the dormitory, her roommates had all gone out foraging for food. Xuan Xia couldn’t wait to take out the notebook from the paper bag and check it.
Only after taking out the notebook did she discover there was something else at the bottom of the paper bag.
Yellow paper, cinnabar, brush, and a small paperweight.
Knowing she wanted to learn drawing talismans, Daoist Master Qin had prepared everything, saving her the trouble of buying them herself.
She took out the items one by one again.
The paperweight was carved in the shape of a roaring tiger. Though small in size, the carving was extremely exquisite. Even someone who didn’t know better could tell it was the work of a master, and it was likely quite expensive.
In addition, the yellow paper was already cut, the cinnabar had a vibrant color and seemed specially prepared. The brush, however, was not new.
But Xuan Xia believed that Daoist Master Qin wouldn’t prepare new items for everything else while overlooking just one brush to use an old one.
There must be some special reason.
Xuan Xia set it aside for now and planned to ask Daoist Master Qin later when it was evening.
After looking at the supplies needed for drawing talismans, Xuan Xia flipped open the notebook again.
Daoist Master Qin had sent her a total of four notebooks altogether. She recognized two of them from her great grandfather’s bookshelf, while the other two, one old and one new, were not her great grandfather’s.
She flipped through the two she had no impression of.
The old one was full of talismans in various styles, with annotations beside them explaining the name and simply marking the uses.
Interestingly, these annotations looked newly added at a glance.
She flipped through the other new one.
This one was straightforward, filled with incantation formulas, usage instructions, and annotations, all written clearly, as if specially prepared for self-taught beginners like her.
Right at the front was the incantation she had recited several times: “Know constancy and be enlightened; the Dao is in all directions, the Dao illuminates all directions, responding to nothing.” Another line Daoist Master Qin had recited was also there.
Moreover, the handwriting of the annotations in the notebook full of incantation formulas matched that in the talismans notebook.
No need to say, it was all Daoist Master Qin’s handwriting.
Xuan Xia sighed: Daoist Master Qin was such a good person and didn’t hold anything back. He was truly a model for those who had left the secular world.
After flipping through a bit more, Xuan Xia put away the items, then picked up her mobile phone to send a message to Daoist Master Qin.
“Thank you for the notebook and tools, Daoist Master Qin. Is that paperweight very valuable? I could actually buy one myself. Also, does the brush have some special significance?”
She knew Daoist Master Qin always replied to messages slowly, so she didn’t plan to wait around. She tidied up and went out to the cafeteria for breakfast.
This time, however, Daoist Master Qin came through quickly. Xuan Xia received his reply halfway there.
『Daoist Master Qin: Without knowing the knack of writing talismans, you’ll make ghosts and gods laugh. You’re a newcomer, so be cautious when learning talismans. The paperweight and brush are items I’ve used; using them while learning talismans will be safer for you.』
In other words, the items provided by Daoist Master Qin had all been consecrated, so there was no worry that a beginner like her would mess up while drawing clumsily.
So that’s how it was.
Xuan Xia dispelled the thought of returning the paperweight and buying one herself.
She had to admit, Daoist Master Qin was really thoughtful.
Sighing again at how good this person was, Xuan Xia couldn’t help but reflect: Daoist Master Qin took care of her in every way, and her just accepting it so matter-of-factly—wasn’t that a bit improper?
Should she think about how to return the favor?
But how should she return the favor to a Daoist priest?
Give a gift? Could a priest accept gifts?
Or, hire a temple master soon to free him up?
Hmm… Otherwise, she’d better think about what gift would be appropriate.
***
Xuan Xia wanted to start learning to draw talismans as soon as possible, but Daoist Master Qin stopped her.
Daoist Master Qin said that after her two entries into illusionary scenery, her soul aspect was unstable, so it wasn’t suitable to start learning these things now, lest she botch it and make things worse.
To stabilize her soul aspect quickly… just sunbathe.
So for the next few days, Xuan Xia went out under the sun whenever she had time.
And she didn’t just sunbathe for two days; she did it for a full four days. If not for the Saturday meeting with Ji Ziyao at the platform, she could have kept going, sunbathing for 180 days straight until she turned golden brown on both sides. (Not really.)
***
Saturday, ten in the morning.
A gray-black business car slowly pulled up near the school gate. Since it wasn’t a luxury brand, it didn’t attract attention.
Xuan Xia got on the car low-key without drawing notice.
Once on board, she discovered there was not only Ji Ziyao inside, but also a round-faced doll-like girl.
Xuan Xia exchanged a glance with her.
The doll-faced girl smiled sweetly and spoke first: “Hello, Xuan Xia. I’m Yang Wanxiu. You can call me Xiuxiu. I’m your executive agent. Please take care of me from now on.”
“Hello.” Xuan Xia greeted her, then turned her line of sight to Ji Ziyao.
Ji Ziyao introduced: “Xiuxiu is both your executive agent and your assistant. For the upcoming program recording, you’ll need someone to look after you, and I can’t always be by your side.”
Big-status stars have teams with clear divisions of labor, but Xuan Xia was just a fledgling little newcomer right now. Having an executive agent by her side was already pretty good.
Some newcomers went solo, with no one around, handling everything themselves.
“Oh.” Xuan Xia turned back and said to Yang Wanxiu: “You can call me Xiaxia or Little Xia. Whatever feels natural to you.”
“Got it, Xiaxia.” Yang Wanxiu smiled again.
The round doll face paired with the sweet smile was endearing no matter how you looked at it.
The two took out their mobile phones to exchange contact info and added each other as friends.
Once they finished, Ji Ziyao handed the contract to Xuan Xia: “Take a look. You can sign if there’s no problem.”
Xuan Xia had already seen the electronic version before, so now she just needed to go over it again to confirm there were no discrepancies.
She quickly finished reviewing, borrowed a pen from Ji Ziyao, and signed her name at the end of the contract.
After the contract returned to Ji Ziyao’s hands, he did a final check while saying: “The other guests will all be at today’s planner meeting, so don’t get stage fright.”
Stage fright? Xuan Xia indicated she had no idea what that was.
From childhood to now, she had given countless speeches on stage, with so many schoolmates watching below, and she’d never felt stage fright.
As it turned out, forget stage fright—she didn’t even recognize the other guests!
***
For this dating show “Pitter-Patter, Us Falling in Love in Summer,” besides the partner pair of Zhou Shiqing and Xuan Xia, there were another four pairs of guest partners.
On the male guest side, there were rising film and TV newcomer He Tiandong, idol singer Lin Jing, Gu Sun who was also a member of a boy idol group, and esports player Zhu Yuifeng.
The female guests had a similar lineup.
Film and TV little flower Xie Yun, Mo Feifei who had just won a TV singing competition championship, girl group member An Qi, and model Nan Fu.
Because it was a dating show, all the invited guests were handsome young men and beautiful young women.
Precisely because of that, Xuan Xia wasn’t familiar with them.
After they arrived at the platform building, Ji Ziyao went to handle the contract, while Xuan Xia was accompanied by Yang Wanxiu to the large conference room where the guests gathered.
In the large conference room, half the guests were already there.
Those who knew each other chatted, while those who didn’t just scrolled on their phones by themselves.
When Xuan Xia entered, she only got a glance from them. Since they didn’t know each other, there was no awkward small talk.
Name signs for each guest were placed on the long conference table. The one with Xuan Xia’s name was in the second position, facing Zhou Shiqing’s name sign.
In the first position was film and TV newcomer He Tiandong, paired with film and TV little flower Xie Yun.
Xuan Xia guessed the partners all sat facing each other, and the seating order was likely by status.
And obviously, it was sorted by the male partner’s status.
Otherwise, she should have been at the very end.
